The Coshocton County Beacon March 25, 2020 | Page 21

March 25, 2020 The Beacon • 21 Local schools supporting families with lessons and food By Jen Jones The superintendents of all local schools said that providing needed support to families was their main goal when an order from Gover nor Mike DeWine closed all schools in Ohio on March 16. Coshocton City Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hire said his district had a few days of spring break planned this week, so they had a little extra time in put- ting together a plan to serve all of their students, both edu- cationally and with needed food. “Our ninth through 12 th grade all have devices that they take home every day for lessons, so they will continue to use those. We have made arrangements for our seventh and eighth graders to take home the devices they use at the school during the day,” said Dr. Hire. He also said that they were trying to get internet access for younger students to use computers at home. “We purchased hot spots and are making plans on where to put those so everyone can access the internet. Our kindergar- ten through third grade took home packets of lessons, too.” Coshocton City School teachers will have virtual office hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day and parents are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher for help with lessons. “We will also be using our all-call system Submitted April Weinberg’s son Ethan is pictured working on a reading assignment at home. to keep families updated as things change,” said Hire. As for food delivery, meals can be picked up curbside at Coshocton Elementary between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Families are asked to pull up to the lower entrance by the gym doors and staff will be there to help. Meals can also be picked up between 10:30 – 11 a.m. each morn- ing at Chestnut Crossing, Papa John’s Pizza/Liberty Church, First Baptist Church on Chestnut St (across from the Pit Stop), Grace UMC on Walnut St., Coshocton County Fairgrounds and the Meadows. Students will receive a breakfast and lunch each day. All children 18 and under are welcome and the child will need to be present to receive the meals. Staff is asking that you please stay in your vehicles or to remind children to practice social distancing when they get their meals. For questions about Coshoc- ton City Schools meals, email Jennifer Andrews at jenni- fer.andrews@coshoctonc- ityschools.com or call the elementary or high school office. R ive r View Supe r i n- tendent Dalton Summers said their district is doing a combination of online learn- ing and using instructional packets that were sent home with students. “About half of our students took a survey last week and only about 15 percent of them didn’t have internet at home, so we were really pleased with that. I did remind staff that we don’t know what kind of data plans those families have so we need to limit sending videos as instructions.” “I am amazed at what our staff put together so quickly on the fly. They are all work- ing together. I don’t care what emergency plans you have as a district – this is something completely unprecedented and our staff went above and beyond to make sure our stu- dents had what they need,” said Summers. River View staff will also be available online for any questions parents may have about lessons. Unlike other county schools, River View does not have free lunches for all students each day. “We Library reminds patrons about digital services W hile the physical library is currently closed due to COVID-19, patrons are reminded that digital services are still available. Digital cards can be applied for at w w w.coshocton li- brary.orgin order to access the digital collection. Once registration is complete, an e-card will be emailed within 24-48 hours. The Ohio Digital Library and Hoopla have e-books, audiobooks, tele- v ision shows, mov ies, music, and magazines for borrowing. The Ohio Web Library includes resources for homework help, health information, and a variety of other informative data- bases. Lynda.com has over 12,000 online courses to achieve personal and pro- fessional goals. Help links are available on the library’s website and YouTube page. Staff will continue to work from home to provide remote services. Staff can be reached by email atin- [email protected]. Patrons are reminded to enjoy items that are cur- rently checked out for a little longer, as returns are not being accepted. Overdue fines will be forgiven. Wi-Fi is available outside of the library building. The physical library will remain closed until f u r- ther notice. Please check the library’s website or Face- book page for upcoming details. SEND US YOUR NEWS! [email protected] want to provide as much sup- port for our families as we can, so we are working with churches and other organiza- tions to get food to the fami- lies that need it,” said Sum- mers. Joel Moore, director of operations and transporta- tion for River View said he is using four to five bus drivers to get 100 boxes of food to families on Friday, March 20. “We had a targeted list and will be adding more as needed,” said Moore. As soon as he had a definite list, he would call the families and make arrangements to get the food to them, whether it was a drop off at their usual bus stop or at their home. Ridgewood Local Schools Superintendent Mike Maslos- ki said his staff met on March 12to discuss their options if the schools would have to be closed. “We had plans in place, but in the course of a few days, much needed to be changed. Everything hap- pened quickly.” Ridgewood students will be using online and instruc- tional packets for their les- sons. Staff is available for all questions and parents are encouraged to use the dis- trict’s website for up to date information. Masloski said he is trying to limit staff in each building, but kitchen staff and paraprofessionals would be putting meals together for students. Any child 18 and under can receive the meals and must be present when picking the meals up. Masloski said students need to be at their afternoon bus stop to receive a breakfast and lunch. He also asked that students be there about 10 minutes before their usual drop off time. Meals can also be picked up curbside at the Ridgewood Middle School from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. If a student can- not be at a bus stop or use the curbside pickup, parents should contact Michelle Stof- fer at 740-545-5301. “We have a great com- munity that pulls together when things are tough. We are resilient and will all get through this together, as a school district and as a com- munity,” Masloski said. Coshocton County Board of Developmental Disabili- ties Superintendent Steve Oster said all of the coun- ty board staff are working together to provide needed services. Hopewell School staff donating several car- loads of food to take to their students and the school will still have their Backpacks for Blessings available for the next several weeks. “We (the CCBDD) work with the most vulnerable population and we want to be sure they are still able to get the services they need,” said Oster. He also said that all county board staff is check- ing on families via phone, Skype or whatever is needed to continue services. “I am blessed to have staff who are willing to go above and beyond in a time of need like this. Teamwork goes a long way and having people who care is really important.” Helping to Build a Future for 4H Siding Supply Premier Distributor of Doors, Windows, Siding, and Stone 6767 CR 624, Millersburg, Ohio 44654 | P: 800.524.7436 · F: 330.674.3104 Newark 25 Swans Road NE, Newark, Ohio 43055 | P: 800.860.3045 · F: 740.349.5789 Pittsburgh 7848 Steubenville Pike, Oakdale, PA 15071 | P: 844.409.1112 · F: 724.300.3651 BF-00475935